Utah Kids with Diabetes Get Motivated in Park City

Spots Filled on a First-Come, First-Served Basis for April 30th,
May 15th Events

April 13, 2010 09:32 AM Eastern Daylight Time

PARK CITY, Utah--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Teens are learning important life skills at the annual “Kids Rock The
World" (KRTW, http://www.kidsrocktheworld.org)
events on Friday, April 30, 2010 at Jupiter Bowl and Saturday, May 15,
2010 at the National Ability Center (NAC) in Park City, Utah.

These innovative programs, designed to promote courage and confidence,
allow children with diabetes to learn how to overcome mental and
physical challenges.

Bowling Night allows older teens to meet others going through the
same challenges, as well as participate in team building activities.

The Ropes Course event is an outdoor exploration where
participants use ropes, cables, and a climbing wall to work creatively
as a team to overcome obstacles. The adventure builds self-esteem and
trust as participants develop supportive relationships through teamwork
and shared responsibility, qualities that have particular relevance for
the management of diabetes.

“Children can overcome the most difficult challenges,” explained Aimee
Greenholtz, founder of KRTW. “They just need the tools. That’s what we
are teaching here at Kids Rock The World. In addition, they find out
they are not alone in the world by meeting others going through the same
trials.”

Twenty type 1 and type 2 teens ages 16-18 years with diabetes from the
Salt Lake City and Park City areas will bowl off against each other at
Bowling Night. Enthusiastic counselors and facilitators from the NAC, as
well as a diabetes doctor, will be on hand all evening to ensure the
safety of children. Dinner will be served as kids strike up
conversations about what it means to deal with this illness.

At the Ropes Course event, 50 type 1 and type 2 kids ages 11-15 years -
also from the Salt Lake and Park City area - will be led through this
one-day program by counselors trained in diabetes. Special guest
speakers/athletes who have overcome their own challenges are planned. A
diabetes doctor and EMT will be at KRTW all day. Morning and afternoon
snacks, as well as lunch, will be served. One week before the event,
parents and kids are invited to attend an orientation to meet the staff
and learn more about this day.

KRTW was founded by Greenholtz in Los Angeles in 2001 and served
southern California children from Santa Barbara to Long Beach. The
program, held at California State University, Long Beach and sponsored
by the American Diabetes Association, was an annual event with kids from
Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, Orange County, Miller Children’s and
Long Beach Memorial Hospital.

These annual programs are now sponsored by the Juvenile Diabetes
Research Foundation (JDRF) in Salt Lake City and KeyVive, a
diabetes lifestyle management company. Bowling Night is debuting for the
first time in Park City with the KRTW Ropes Course event coming back
after being introduced in Utah last year.

Type 1 diabetes results from the body's failure to produce insulin - the
hormone that "unlocks" the cells of the body, allowing glucose to enter
and fuel them. Type 2 diabetes is a metabolic disorder, resulting from
the body's inability to make enough or properly use insulin. A growing
number of children and adolescents are developing type 2 diabetes - a
form of diabetes that is generally diagnosed among adults. Type 2 is now
in epidemic proportion.

Teens face a number of issues when diagnosed with diabetes, including
fear, guilt and anger: fear that they will be judged and considered an
outcast; guilt in dealing with parents who want to manage their child's
disease; and anger at having to eat differently, test their blood sugar
throughout the day and take medication or insulin daily.

JDRF is a leader in setting the agenda for diabetes research worldwide,
and is the largest charitable funder and advocate of type 1 research.
The mission of JDRF is to find a cure for diabetes and its complications
through the support of research. Type 1 diabetes is a disease, which
strikes children and adults suddenly and requires multiple injections of
insulin daily or a continuous infusion of insulin through a pump.
Insulin, however, is not a cure for diabetes, nor does it prevent its
eventual and devastating complications, which may include kidney
failure, blindness, heart disease, stroke, and amputation. Since its
founding in 1970 by parents of children with type 1 diabetes, JDRF has
awarded more than $1.4 billion to diabetes research, including more than
$100 million in FY2009.

The National Ability Center is a 501(c) 3 non-profit organization that
provides recreational and therapeutic activities for people of all ages
and abilities. The Ability Center offers more than twenty adaptive
programs throughout the year including horseback riding, alpine and
Nordic skiing, cycling, and sled hockey. Learn more about the NAC at
DiscoverNAC.org.

KRTW is a 501(c) 3 Utah-non-profit organization. KRTW is dedicated to
the empowerment of young teens with diabetes and focuses on promoting
courage and confidence so kids don’t let diabetes stop them from living
a life they love.